Restructuring Our Coffee Selection

Last week I made some big changes to the coffee line up at The Blending Room. Those of you who are internet customers have received an email briefly explaining the change in direction, but I thought a blog post would allow me to go into further details about the reasons for changing direction.

For the past three years I have stocked a number of coffees and blindly thought that having a long list (upward of 24 at one point) was what you, the customer, wanted. Yes, this did give you choice in respect of a varied list of origins, but it didn’t take into account the seasonality of coffee and promoted habitual purchasing without thought about the product. This approach applied to me too (purchasing green coffee) and needed to change.

I know that over time, I have improved as a coffee roaster, cupper, green coffee purchaser etc and feel that you, the end consumer, have too. It’s this continued personal development that has been the driving force behind restructuring the coffee on offer. My approach from now forward will be to buy coffee that I feel will challenge us. That is, challenge me as a coffee roaster – knowing the effects of varieties, altitudes, processing methods etc on roasting and for you, how the aforementioned changes the cup profile of your coffee.

My green coffee purchasing will now follow some simple rules. Coffee will only be bought on a seasonal, “new crop” basis. Each coffee will come with greater provenance – origin, farm details, variety, terroir etc. The list of coffee shall never exceed what I deem adequate to turn over in no greater than 6 weeks (to expose each of us to as many coffees as possible). All coffee will be chosen on their performance on the cupping table.

What will I expect from you? Greater feedback on the coffee I put in front of you and trust. It’s that simple.

I hope the above explains the reasoning behind the fine tuning in direction. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.